Falling for the Alphas: Part Two (3 page)

Kayden ran faster. A howl tore itself from his mouth, his fury and grief given voice. Again he leaped, clearing a gap over fifteen feet wide. He cratered the roof on which he landed, but never stopped. He didn't know where he was running to. Didn't want to acknowledge what he was running from.

Another memory: Naomi, her body moving sinuously against him, the smooth curvature of her flank, her sweet smell of arousal, her hot wet heat enveloping his sex like a tight sheath, her moans, her cries, the full firmness of her body, her large breasts, her need, her hunger -

Kayden swiped at a chimney as he ran past it. An explosion of bricks sprayed out across the roof, but still he didn't stop. Sex and death. Pride and humiliation. His breath was coming raggedly now from his great chest. The burn in his legs was mounting. He'd been in an all-out sprint now for over five minutes. The more his body burned, the harder he pushed himself.

The next gap was over twenty feet wide, a great empty expanse. He was losing speed. His legs were feeling weak. Bloody minded, Kayden pushed himself harder, put everything he had into it and leaped again. He slammed into the corner of the building. Claws shattered brick, tore up the roof, but momentum caused him to bounce right off. There was a sickening last moment as his talons caught - and then tore free.

He fell. Down six stories, plunging through the night to crash shoulders first into a dumpster. The sound of his crashing through the iron lid and blasting into the trash was akin to a meteor striking a car. The world went bright white. Nothing. Silence. Pain. Real pain, bleeding in through his madness. With a groan he pulled himself from the wreckage, his werewolf body already starting to heal, to regenerate. Nothing could permanently damage him other than silver or the claws of another supernatural. Bones snapped back into place, wounds sealed shut. He rose to his feet, dazed, his fury grown dull.

Another memory: Gerard lying dead, torn apart, eyes blank. The ache of the missing totem in Kayden's heart and soul. Somehow Stark had killed the totem as well. Around him the stunned and defeated remnants of the Silver Song. Kayden stood there staring down at his dead alpha. He had failed. He hadn't done enough. He had been too weak. He hadn't been good enough.

With a roar he slammed his fist straight into the wall, shattering the stone. Drew back, and then hurled himself at it. There was too much pain in his heart for him to control. It was a maelstrom. His waking battle to keep himself in check had been lost. His rage, his all-consuming fury, was out and devouring him. Again and again he smashed his massive warform into the side of the building. Blind, bloody fury.

Naomi straining against him, sweat running down her neck as she pushed back against his cock, taking his full length, reaching back to cup his head, her body as powerful as the ocean surging against rocks.

Stark, laughing as he watched Gerard die.

He hadn't been good enough. He couldn't protect his packmates, his totem, his alpha. He couldn't protect anybody. He didn't belong. He wasn't part of his old world. He was a failure.

Kayden battered himself against the wall over and over again until finally he collapsed to his knees amongst the rubble. Breath harsh and tearing in his wounded throat. Body broken and bloodied. And still his pain raged within him. His memories. His world torn asunder. Only one thing had mattered: revenge. Stark, lying as dead as Gerard. And yet, all these months later, he still hadn't killed him. Hadn't come any closer.

Kayden rolled over onto his back and stared up at the night sky, chest heaving, split knuckles healing. Stars. How long since he had been in Manistee? Felt the cool calm of nature, the healing balm that was the fresh air, the soil beneath his paws? How long had he breathed the foul polluted stink of the city? Too long.

Illixy had demanded he unite with the others under his patronage. To take him as a totem. But Kayden couldn't. He couldn't unite with the others. He couldn't accept healing. He couldn't forgive himself. He couldn't go back home. Not until Stark was dead. Not until the fallen were avenged. Not until he had proved himself worthy.

Kayden shifted from his great warform to his human body. Curled up around his pain. His eyes burned as mute tears ran down his cheeks. He had to be strong, yet he had never felt so broken in all his life.

CHAPTER FOUR

Naomi awoke by slow degrees. Her body felt delicious. Sunlight was filtering through the drapes and pouring over her naked limbs like honey. Dylan was beside her. His arm draped loosely over her hip. From where she lay she could feel his body down the length of her, naked and firm. His hand was that of a working man. Strong. Copper wires catching the morning light and catching fire. She knew the strength in those fingers. She closed her eyes and subtly wriggled back into him. Froze, and then a wicked smile spread across her face. He was hard. Even though his soft breathing proved he was asleep, his cock was thick and stiff. She imagined angling her pelvis just right and slip and sliding down onto him. Waking him with that slow teasing pleasure. She felt herself growing wet at the thought. It wouldn't be the furious mating that she'd enjoyed with Kayden. It would be a slow and sensuous coupling, bodies sliding against each other, starting slow and building the fire until neither of them could take it any longer.

Dylan stirred and awoke. Paused, as if momentarily surprised to find her there, and then pressed his face into her hair. She could feel his warm breath on her ear. His hand moved to her hip. His body shifted slightly so that his prick moved just in place. All it would take would be a slight forward thrust on his part. For her to open and push back.

"I dreamt of you." His voice a low rumble. Hypnotizing.

"Oh?" Her own voice breathy with desire. She wanted to reach back and take hold of him in her hand. But something held her in place.

"Mmmhmm." Another minute shift on his part. So dangerous. It would take so little to connect. "You were with me in the Cairn. Naked. Beautiful. My mate. Part spirit, part flesh."

"The Cairn?" It was so hard to think. To focus.

His breath in her ear was warm and caused tingles to run through her. "Yes." He ran his fingers up her side, ghosting them over her ribs. She inhaled sharply. "Where my pack sleeps. Where I sleep, when I'm not here. Where our totem once lived. Our holy ground."

Naomi absorbed this. Pushed her ass out and into him. Felt his stomach grow taut as he held his breath. "And I was there?"

His hand moved back down her side, to her hip. He moved her forward just a fraction, a subtle roll forward that caused her pussy lips to part. She felt how wet she was. Closed her eyes. His head was but an inch from her. She wanted him. Wanted him so badly.

"Yes." His voice little more than a whisper. "You were there. With my pack. With the totem." He paused, and then so softly, "With Kayden."

Naomi opened her eyes. Rolled onto her back and looked up at him. Dylan's face was haloed by his falling hair, which glowed auburn and chocolate brown in the light of the sun. As always, his golden irises fascinated her, his werewolf nature writ plain. She reached up and touched his cheek. "Kayden?"

Dylan turned his face and kissed the back of her hand. His expression was haunted, tormented by lust and discomfort. "Yes. We were sharing you. The three of us mating. Both packs were there, but no longer separate. We were one pack again. One pack, and strong."

"One pack." Naomi lowered her hand. Studied him. "Do you really think it can work?"

He sighed and looked away. Shrugged with one muscled shoulder. "Everything that is lupine within me says no. Tells me to claim you as my own. To fight for you. But the part of me that is human knows that to do so means death. For Kayden, our packs, myself, and for you. We need to unite. As much as I want you, I can't have you." He looked back down at her. She felt her heart beat race. His desire was naked. "I can't have you all to myself. We need Kayden. I think my dream was a vision. A prophecy. A message from the spirit world. We need to find him. We need his strength, his pack. Only then can we survive the coming storm."

Naomi took a deep breath. How could somebody look so young, so vulnerable, yet inspire such need and passion in her? She wanted him all the more now. Wanted him not just for the moment, but for the future. This was a man she could grow to love, could grow to respect and follow. A true leader. She reached up with her hand and cupped his neck. Pulled him down, and kissed him. His lips were soft, hesitant, and then he returned her kiss with passion. His body burned against hers. The kiss was perfect, and Naomi lost all sense of time. All sense of self. She wanted him. Knew how good it would be. But gently, reluctantly, they both pulled back.

"Kayden," she whispered.

Dylan nodded. "We need to find him."

Again she took a deep breath. Her heart was fluttering. The ache between her legs was almost too much, but when Dylan sat up, she did the same. Voices from outside the open window. She thought she recognized the sound of Shania's voice, and then Lacey's laughter. A man she didn't recognize.

"I'm going down." Dylan was pulling on a shirt. He paused, one arm through a sleeve, head through the neck hole, midriff still showing. "Do - do you want a shower?" And like that she laughed. He asked as if he were guessing at a complex mathematical problem. As if he had only a vague idea as to what a woman might want, need.

"Yes. A shower would be lovely. And some clean clothing, if you can find some for me."

He smiled, amused at her laughter, and pulled the shirt fully on. Reached for his jeans and stepped into them. "Sure. I'll find something. Towel's on the shelf. I'll see you downstairs."

Dylan buckled his belt, stepped close, kissed her, a lingering kiss, and then pulled away. Opened the door, and was gone. Bemused, conflicted, Naomi moved to the window. Outside, Shania was pinning laundry to a clothes-line and smiling at Lacey, who was holding a wooden staff and facing off against a massive man. He looked familiar - and then Naomi placed him. The white haired werewolf from the warehouse. The one with the sledgehammer. He was massive, almost seven feet tall, as broad as a barnyard door, a modern day Viking. His grin was broad, however, and with a nod he lowered into a combat crouch, staff held at the ready. Teaching Lacey to fight, perhaps.

Naomi turned away. Could this be a home? Could she let go of her old life in Fort Brixton? Live here at Anna's House with the Silver Song pack, come to know the spirits, the Cairn, this strange and exhilarating world of the werewolves? She thought of Dylan's eyes, his lips, his touch, and felt that yes - maybe she could.

~~~

Freshly showered, wearing the same worn jeans and a new plaid shirt she suspected had been stolen from Dylan's wardrobe, Naomi descended the stairs to the living room. Laura was in the kitchen, and after a quick hug handed her a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a bowl of yogurt and nuts with honey drizzled over it. Naomi stepped outside into the sunlight, and sat next to Dylan on one of the porch chairs.

Lacey was helping Shania hang the last of the laundry, and the white-haired giant was sitting on the steps leading up to the porch, skin pink from the sun, sweat glistening on his heavy muscles. A gray wolf with a white chest was lying in the shade, ice-blue eyes turned to her, and a teenage girl wearing cast-off clothing that looked too large for her stood to the far side, arms crossed.

"Naomi." Dylan was at ease. This was his element. "Let me introduce you around. The big man is Luther." The large man raised a hand. Dylan nodded at the wolf. "That is Runs~with~the~Wind, my Beta." At Naomi's confused look, Dylan smiled. "My second in command, if you will. Should I die, Runs~with~the~Wind would become alpha. And that's Bottlecap. She's relatively new to the pack - joined us just last year before Gerard - well."

The young girl looked around eighteen, one half of her head shaved to a fuzz, her hair on the other half dyed shocking pink and hanging to her shoulder. She smiled readily enough, however, and Naomi smiled back.

Dylan leaned back. "The rest of the pack is on patrol. You'll meet them soon enough." Naomi nodded and sipped her orange juice. The werewolves returned to their conversation. Naomi hadn't realized how hungry she was until she tasted the yogurt. Luther was recounting the patrol he had run with Runs~with~the~Wind and Bottlecap last night. Dylan asked questions, listened, and finally nodded.

"Good. When the others return, head back out. Patrol the section closest to the city again. Starks' going to test us. Naomi and I have business today. We'll be back soon."

Luther nodded, but it was Runs~with~the~Wind that rose to his feet first and padded away. Luther left next, followed by Bottlecap who flicked her pink hair aside and hopped down off the porch. After a moment they had disappeared into the woods, and were gone.

Naomi set the empty bowl aside. "Our business?"

"Yes. We need to find Kayden."

"OK, but how? Fort Brixton's no Chicago, but it's still pretty large. Can you... sense him?"

Dylan shook his head. "No. But I know him. We were once packmates. I think I know where he might be. At least, I hope I do. If some part of him is still the wolf I used to know, then there's a chance we can find him."

Naomi rubbed her hands nervously along her legs. "All right. And when we find him?"

Dylan's face was serious, but his eyes glinted. "Then we'll have to work things out."

"Work things out." Her heart beat hard at the thought. She swallowed. "Well. When do you want to go?"

Dylan stood. "Now. If he's there, Kayden won't stay long. He might already be gone. Are you ready?"

No, thought Naomi. She wasn't ready. How could she even pretend to be? The last time Dylan and Kayden had met they'd almost killed each other. Still, she forced herself to nod and stood as well. "Sure."

Dylan held her gaze. "No matter what, I'll protect you."